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Parkinson's disease awareness launched in the Midlands

Making toast when suffering with Parkinson's disease can look like this Photo: Parkinson's UK

Not enough people in the East Midlands know about Parkinson's disease.

Research by Parkinson's UK has found that four in five people know little to nothing about the disease. There are also several misconceptions about the symptoms.

Shaking hands and speech problems are seen as the main symptoms of Parkinson's. These are commonly known.

But, there are a lot more symptoms that are less known and aren't so obvious, such as, depression, anxiety and sleep problems.

One of the images Parkinson's UK has used in its campaign Credit: Parkinson's UK

21% of people know a great deal or fair amount about Parkinson's

79% of people know just a little or nothing at all about Parkinson's

82% of people think they know how to spot a person with Parkinson's because they have a tremor

12% of people think they know how to spot a person with Parkinson's because they have a fixed facial expression

17% of people think that Parkinson's only affects the way the body moves

4% of people would feel too embarrassed to ask someone about it if they were meeting someone for the first time and during the conversation the person's hands began to shake.

The research shows that 19% of people believe Parkinson's disease is a hereditary condition and more people, 37%, think that it only affects people over 60. In fact, it can affect anyone, at any age.

Shoes Credit: Parkinson's UK

Parkinson's UK have launched a campaign to raise awareness of the condition and to try to tackle the misconceptions of the disease.

Reworked images of six everyday tasks that are difficult for those affected by Parkinson's, have been mixed together to create a disjointed visual puzzle that replicates the way the brain mixes up messages in Parkinson's sufferers.